The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001
The excavations of the last ten years at Charkadio cave
on Tilos Island, Dodekanese, Greece
G.E. Theodorou, N.K. Symeonides
Department of Historical Geology and Palaeontology, University of Athens, Athens,
Greece - [email protected]
SUMMARY: The excavations at Charkadio cave on the island of Tilos have brought to light a very rich fauna
of endemic fossil dwarf elephants. The excavations, by the Department of Historical Geology and
Palaeontology of University of Athens, started in 1971 and continue until today (Symeonides 1972,
Bachmayer et al. 1976, 1984, Theodorou 1983, 1984, 1988, Theodorou et al. 1997). Recent excavations (July
2000 and July 2001) revealed for first time significant dwarf elephant skeletal remains, such as anterior and
posterior legs and vertebrae from different juvenile and adult animals in anatomical position. The findings are
presented to the public at the Town Hall of Megalo Chorio on Tilos Island.
1. INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this short presentation is to
summarize available knowledge on the Tilos
elephants, and to briefly mention some of the
latest results on their taphonomy from the
analysis of hundreds of drawings and pictures
taken at different depths and sites in the cave
(Theodorou, in prep). During the first 10 years,
our efforts were aimed at gathering information
on the stratigraphy, from the surface of the sediment up to a depth of 8.5 meters. Slowly it
became clear that in order to answer some crucial questions about the cave fauna, research
should give special emphasis to the detailed
taphonomy. The extinction event of the
elephants had to be correlated with Late
Quaternary climatic events, volcanic activity or
the possible co-occurrence of man and elephant
on the Island during the Holocene. We had to
deal with absolute dating, fossilization and
taphonomy. The occurence of newly born,
juvenile, adult and aged animals had to be
explained. Morphological and biometrical
studies produced significant information
(Theodorou 1983) and allowed the recognition
of two size groups belonging to males and
females. The lack of complete skeletons, significant articulated parts, a complete vertebral col-
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umn or significant cranial remains prevented us
until now from giving a complete presentation
and description of the elephants, and provisionally the name “Palaeoloxodon antiquus
falconeri” was used, though it was clear
(Theodorou 1983) that there was no direct contact between the populations of different
Mediterranean Islands. We also had to answer
some important questions. If deposition of the
bones in the sediment was natural, could it
be correlated with a catastrophic event, or did
humans introduce the fossil bones while residing in the cave? Did people use the elephants
for food? Did they transfer elephant body parts
into the cave after killing the animals in the
open? Did people arrive on the island before or
after the extinction of the elephants?
2. EXCAVATIONS OF THE LAST DECADE
During the last 10 years we have begun to
collect data that could give answers to the
above-mentioned questions. We changed our
way of working. Instead of digging deeper, we
started to uncover large surfaces, good for
taphonomical studies. To do this we had to face
many serious technical problems, some still
unsolved. Most of the sediment surface of the
first cave chamber is covered by rocks col-
The excavations of the last ten years in the Charkadio elephant Cave on Tilos Island, Dodekanese, Greece
Fig.1 - Fossil bones of dwarf elephants at Charkadio cave on Tilos Island. Some of the long bones were found
articulated in anatomical position (© G. Theodorou, Excavation July 2000).
lapsed from the roof. The fallen rocks make a
layer which in some places is thicker than 1.3
m. Below the collapsed rocks we were lucky
enough to uncover after 25 years of excavations
fragmented skull remains, that are still being
prepared with extreme difficulty. We still lack a
skull with both tusks in the alveoli. Slowly during the last 5 years a substantial excavation surface has become available, and provided us for
first time with significant taphonomical information documented in hundreds of drawings.
3. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
The taphonomical study allowed us in July
2000 and July 2001 to document the existence of
articulated long bones, vertebrae in natural
sequence, carpal and tarsal bones etc., all in situ.
The excavations also revealed also for first time
(July 2000) inclined fossiliferous layers dipping
toward the southeastern corner of the cave.
Skeletal remains have been used for DNA analysis (Poulakakis, in prep.) revealing a relationship
to recent Asiatic elephants. Separate studies carried out on the fossilization (Theodorou et al.
1985, Stathopoulou 2000) and studies on the
micromorphology of tusks and bones (Theodorou et al, in prep.) have allowed us better
to understand the morphology and evolution
of the Tilos elephants, the last European elephants. These studies make up the database necessary to allow the study of elephant remains
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The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001
Fig.2 - One of the very rare cranial remains of the dwarf elephants of Tilos, belonging to a very young
animal. It has been restored from more than 190 fragments. (Max. length 29 cm) (© G. Theodorou).
Fig.3 - Biometrical reconstruction of a juvenile skeleton (about 50x70 cm) in the exhibition room of the
Town Hall at Megalo Chorio on Tilos Island. (© G. Theodorou).
found in archaeological collections all over
Greece and especially on islands with endemic
elephants. It is well known that all such remains
are usually attributed to trade and not to the collection of fossils by Man. The relation of the
Tilos elephants to Man is still unclear. The findings in anatomical position in layers that correspond to the last eustatic minimum cannot be
correlated with human activity, making the problematic tusks fragments published long ago the
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only indication of Man in the cave.
4. PRESENTATION OF SCIENTIFIC RESULTS
TO THE PUBLIC
An exhibition about the excavations opened
in 1994 at the Town Hall of Tilos, and it will be
soon transferred to a new building close to the
cave that is being constructed. The small openair summer theater, which was constructed by
The excavations of the last ten years in the Charkadio elephant Cave on Tilos Island, Dodekanese, Greece
the Municipality of Tilos near Charkadio, and
the asphalt road to the cave, have given a new
dimension to the fossiliferous locality. All of
these have allowed us to bring Vertebrate
Palaeontology where it belongs: to the people
of Greece and of Europe, who have to understand the very important environmental
changes that occurred during Quaternary and
the quality and fragility of the fossil treasures
from our past that have to be studied, protected
and preserved.
5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
During each of the last 10 years excavations
have been financed by the Ministry of the
Aegean, and during the last 3 years they are cofinanced by the General Secretary of Research
and Technology at Athens. Our efforts to present to the public the results of our research programme have been strongly supported by the
Major of Tilos, Mr. A. Aliferis.
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